Kaysar
Kaysar (born William An Dravenov) was an Erinian statesman and leader who became Erinia's first Grand Protector following his victory in the Democratic War. He founded the Erinian Commonwealth, a state that would come to dominate the western world in the coming centuries and stand as the foremost power of modern times. Although some of Kaysar's autocratic tendancies would be avoided by some of his successors, his time in office set the gold standard for the office of the Grand Protector, which he metaphorically described as "the iron-gloved hand that guards and guides our enlightened society." He died of natural causes at the age of 75. He received the posthumous name of Kaysar, named after the ancient arostrian kingdom of Kaysaria in Minea. Kaysar's designated successor was the illustrious Valern. Biography Early Life William An Dravenov was born in the Haven town of Colcherna in the year 870 AA. Born to nobles of the Dravenov family, a former aristocratic house. The family had been deprived of its former lofty status when the republican revolution abolished all kingly and aristocratic titles and rights. However, the family had managed to retain some of their privately owned estates and lands and so were still very well off during the republic era. William's grandfather was Rupert An Dravenov, who had successfully gotten the family back into Erinian politics when he was elected to parliament for the Colcherna sub-province in the year 859 AA. However, much to Rupert's annoyance, his own son Valdemar had no interest in politics and was always more of an artistic type and a notorious free-thinker, which Rupert interpreted as the new republican culture's corrupting influence. He was intensely delighted when Valdemar's son William took an interest in matters of state. Rupert took William under his wing and taught him everything he knew regarding politics, law and tradition. Rupert's views were heavily preservist, usually criticising the corrupt and chaotic republic while praising the fairness and stability of the kingdom. It is clear though that William didn't take to heart all of his grandfather's rhetoric, as his own father also left him favorable views on things like individual liberty and free expression. A third notable influence came from William's mother Amarra. A headstrong and highly respected woman, yet sweet and free-thinking like her husband. Amarra used to tell William tales from what we call today the Thousand Years War, of men like Garald Mapiers, Ormund of Valassia, and of course Erin the Great. It's with these tales that William's military interests would later blossom. Military Career In 888 AA, William joined the Republican army at the age of 18, the earliest possible age of enlistment. This received poor reactions from his family. His father scolded him for what he saw as becoming just another thrall of the state and his grandfather saw it as him throwing away his family legacy. Only his mother supported that decision and it seems that her blessing was enough for him. William started his career from the very bottom as a common foot soldier. During this time the Three Republics were experiencing a perpetual peace, so William never saw any actual combat outside of repelling one minor nulian raid on the eastern border. Despite this, William was soon promoted to captain after showing excellent initiative and discipline. It was long rumoured that this promotion may have been bought by his grandfather, who appears to have come around on his grandson's decision to join the army. From there William only flourished, showing himself as a charismatic disciplinarian who was loved by his men for his down-to-earth policies. When he was 26 he was promoted to lieutenant and at 28 to corporal. This meteoric rise was a testament to both William's own abilities and to the republic's meritocratic system, something that he himself wouldn't forget. Governor of Nykesia The Three Republics were divided into several provinces that were usually run by men of the political parliamentary class. However there were a few exceptions, notably in the provinces that stood on the northern and eastern fringes and thus guarded against numerous external enemies. These were called "military provinces" and were run by capable generals or other men of the military class. Sabastian Barkley, the military governor of the northern province of Nykesia sought to step down from his governorship in 900 AA and surprisingly recommended William Dravenov as his successor. Granting a governorship to a man barely out of his twenties was completely unheard of, but Barkley was an old favourite of the parliament and he personally vouched for him. saying "the Dravenov boy has skills and talents well beyond my years", and that he was by far the most qualified man in the republics to succeed him. The parliament relented, and appointed Dravenov a five-year term as military governor of Nykesia. Nykesia sat on the very northern edge of the republics. Beyond it were the hardy nulian peoples of the Tropathian mountains, a constant nuisance and occasionally a serious threat to the province. As a consequence, the province had been intensely militarized and boasted the best soldiers in the Three Republics. William Dravenov largely continued the policies of his predecessors while adding his own personal tweaks. The previous governors would largely act as armchair generals who commanded from afar, while William would regularly participate in the work his men were put of with. Running, working and eating alongside them, these unorthodox approaches earned him some notoriety among the officer corps, but admiration and loyalty among the common soldiery. This way Dravenov ran the province for three years until he would finally get an opportunity to prove his and his men's worth. Battle of Vuctiam In 903 AA, a large group of tribes began moving towards the borders of Nykesia. To this day it is still unknown what caused this massive migration, but possible theories include harvest failures in Tropathia or other nulian tribes invading even further from the north. In his diaries, William calls this migrating group the "Teberni" although it is unknown whether this name comes from the Teberni themselves or from the erinians. William estimated that the total number of Teberni migrators may have been as high as 100.000. When they reached the town of Vuctiam, near the border of Nykesia, the Teberni demanded passage into the province. Without answering them, Dravenov mobilised his entire force of 7.000 men and began marching in secret towards the migrating horde. He reached them only three days later, which caught them completely by surprise. William deployed his infantry in a single line and began attacking the unprepared Teberni, while swinging his elite cavalry around and enveloping the entire Teberni fighting force. The migrators broke and fled, pursued by the Nykesian cavalry for many more kilometers, slaughtering them in the thousands. In the end the total casualties of Teberni is unknown, but their entire tribe was broken and scattered, while Dravenov's forces suffered relatively few losses. As a reward for this great victory, the Parliament in Erinia decided to award Dravenov with the title of Protector, a rare honorific signaling his great service to the state. Outbreak of Civil War In 904, the Three Republics descended into civil war after Jason Servellic's Preservist faction contested the elections of Daniel Georrel's Populist faction. With the preservists establishing themselves in Skagon and Lakedon and the populists in Erinia, Dravenov technically owed his allegience to Daniel Georrel's government as Nykesia was a province within the Erinian Republic. Besides that, many of his men's sympathies lay with the populists and so Dravenov sent a majority of his forces south to fight in the war. However, Dravenov argued to the populists that he needed to keep a decently sized force stationed in Nykesia to guard against potential further nulian attacks. The populists reluctantly agreed, and allowed Dravenov to retain 3.000 of his elite soldiers. Privately, Dravenov considered the outbreak of this civil war proof that the republic had taken its policies too far and had thus slipped into chaos. He began having secret meetings with his officers about taking matters into their own hands. Intervention On the 20th of February in the year of 906, the forces of William Dravenov marched out of Nykesia and occupied the port of Cartors the same day. Subsequently, Dravenov sent out letters all across the republics where he denounced both the governments of Sunderbridge and Georrel as selfish traitors who were trying to destroy the republics. Dravenov lead his 3.000 men on a march southwards towards Erinia, across the coast of Haven Bay. On the 20th of June his forces decisively beat a superior populist force at Laktanward and moved in to besiege the vital port-city of Gwenstown. This siege lasted for nearly two years, during which time numerous soldiers defected to Dravenov's side, swelling his numbers to 4.000 when the city finally surrendered in March of 908. Marching on, Dravenov's army had marched half the way to Erinia herself when they received word of a massive populist force marching against them. Daniel Georrel had been peeling away men from his fight with Sunderbridge, managing to throw together a force over 10.000 strong. Confident in their superior numbers, the populists attacked Dravenov when he was entrenched with his army near a place called Sporwell Heights. The result was a crushing defeat for the populists, who lost nearly their entire force thanks to similar cavalry and shock tactics that Dravenov used at the battle of Vuctiam. Dravenov offered amnesty and a place in his army to all prisoners captured at the battle, swelling his force yet again to over 6.000. The road to Erinia was now open for Dravenov. Fall of the Populists After the disaster at Sporwell Heights, many in Daniel Georrel's government urged their leader to either surrender or flee the country. The stubborn and willfull populist did neither, choosing to gather whatever forces remained loyal to him and making a stand outside the city. On December 1st in 908 Dravenov's forces reached the outskirts of the city, delayed by some weeks due to an intense blizzard. As Dravenov's army encamped to wait for the blizzard to calm, Sunderbridge sallied his forces out of the city and planned to launch a surprise attack against Dravenov, with his army covered by the blizzard. However, a detachment of Dravenov's elite cavalry was out on patrol that day and by chance encountered the advance column Sunderbridge's army. Acting on their own initiative, the Dravenov's cavalry charged the army and smashed its first lines. Seeing barely anything in the blizzard, mass confusion and chaos spread throughout Sunderbridge's ranks. Then somewhere in the fighting Sunderbridge himself was killed, causing the complete breakdown of his army. Dravenov's cavalry chased the army all the way back to Erinia, where the commander of the garrison promptly surrendered the city thinking that Dravenov's entire army was following, who in reality were still encamped two days away. When Dravenov marched into the city two days later he was met with the cheers of his small group of supporters, but much of the city waited in fear of what kind of order Dravenov would bring. Premier Minister and the end of the war After Dravenov's many stunning victories, he finally controlled the capital. Many feared what horrible things this brutish and strict soldier would do to their great and cultured city, but in this Dravenov surprised his friends and foes alike in his modesty. Instead of dissolving the parliament like many expected, he humbly asked their permission to be appointed as Premier Minister by emergency decree, so he could swiftly end the war. With his request granted, Dravenov set out to crush the Preservist League lead by Daniel Georrel, while delegating the governance and politics of Erinia through subordinates. It would take three more years to completely quell the preservists as Dravenov took back settlements one by one. After Dravenov's victory at the seminal battle of Varcari and his subsequent capture of Skagon, the preservist government had had enough. Georrel's subordinates launched a coup against their leader, successfully imprisoning him and suing for peace to Dravenov. At Skagon, the Preservist League surrendered to Dravenov with the sole condition that they were allowed to return to their position as a political faction in the parliament, which he granted reluctantly. Victorious in the war, William An Dravenov stood as the sole master of Erinia and her subject nations. Now he was presented with a simply unprecedented opportunity, to remake the status quo as he saw fit. The Grand Protector William Dravenov's opinions on the Three Republics were various. Its meritocratic system promoted talent and progress, something William had himself experienced firsthand during his fast rise to power. However, the republics were also flawed and unruly, allowing for seditious and corrupt elements to gain power with relative ease. Thus it was Dravenov's aim to improve the republics and not abolish them outright. For this, he looked to the political ideas of Theodor Helmsen, who had brought forth theories in his works; Prejudiced Equity and The Equilibrium. In these works, Helmsen criticizes the unfairness of the republics and argues for the merits of a limited military dictatorship. In 914 William Dravenov had served as Premier Minister for five years, mainly overseeing the reconstruction of the country's infrastructure after the war. It was then that he decided to create a new office, one that acted as an overseer over the parliament and the state. Dravenov elevated his old honorific of protector that had been awarded to him after the battle of Vuctiam, to the new office of the Grand Protector. In November of 914, Dravenov stepped down as Premier Minister and became Erinia's first Grand Protector, the official beginning of the Erinian Commonwealth. Setting an example The creation of the office of the Grand Protector was not official or public by any means. Dravenov simply began administering and attending parliamentary sessions, now only referring to himself by his old ''protector ''title. But Dravenov did not act as a dictator, lest there be grumblings in the parliament that there was a new king in Erinia. Dravenov mediated and settled disputes, broke deadlocks, and acted in all as a guardian watching from the sides, subtly guiding the state towards the path he intended. This example that Dravenov set for the office would more or less be the parameter for all of his successors in the centuries to come. Dravenov also brought all the armies of the republics under one centralized command, a move that consolidated his power more than anything else. For the first time in more than a century, the armies took to the offensive, conquering lands both east and north of Nykesia. Training, uniforms and command structure for the army was also standardized, following the Nykesian example. Conquest of Tyberdon During the civil war, King Ulter III of the Kingdom of Tyberdon had supported the populist government in Erinia, hoping for land gains against the populist government in Skagon. In 926 Ulter III died in his sleep and his 27 year old son, Ulter IV ascended to the throne. Ulter IV had often spoken of the need to break apart the unholy union of Erinia, Lakedon and Skagon, and restore kings Dravenov had long thought the Tyberdonians a thorn in Erinia's side, and thus in 927 started to provoke the young king.